My first Hagiyaki ever and now that it has arrived I'm surprised at how even more excited I am than I thought I would be. Can't believe how engrossing to fondle and study. Kind of creepy. Is this how Gollem started out? Sorry for photo quality but a cell phone is what I had when it arrived.

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Last edited by DBentz on Jun 9th, '11, 16:03, edited 2 times in total.

Stentor wrote:As promised, here are the pictures of the lovely Snowdrift #9. Mine appears to be made for right handed use...

I think all pieces have the same directions for the spirals and they fit your left hand thumb perfectly so I'd say they are all left-handed.I'm right handed and I started holding it in the right hand but soon shifted to left hand hold.

Yeah, I've tried holding 'Snowdrift' in my left hand now as well. I don't think it was much less comfortable. I guess it depends on whether or not you prefer your thumb or the other fingers to go with the 'flow' of the carvings.

Stentor wrote:Yeah, I've tried holding 'Snowdrift' in my left hand now as well. I don't think it was much less comfortable. I guess it depends on whether or not you prefer your thumb or the other fingers to go with the 'flow' of the carvings.

I have mine in hand now..i dont know ..it feels ok in both hands..just depends on where you hold it. I think for me..my sipping spot is in a place that will make it more comfortable to hold right handed.

I absolutely LOVE how the crackles in this cup are beginning to stain! Here are a couple pictures after only 15 cups of sencha.

Here is the outside, near the bottom:

And the inside near the top (you can see sencha lurking below):

You can see with the inside of the cup, the stains look almost like random marks... when I first saw them, they reminded me of scuff marks, and for a moment I thought I had accidentally marked the inside of the cup with the metal strainer I use... then I realized they're stains starting.

What I love about it -- they're forming like random cracks in ice. It's not a general fade in everywhere, but like cracks spreading across the surface of the snowdrift.

No crackles yet, but this cup has a lot of personality--it is happy in either hand, but the sipping sweet spots are rather specific, regardless of which hand I hold it in.

And because it is a bit deeper and the clay is not very thick, it cools slower than a really shallow cup and lets me know as I grab it whether the tea is cool enough to drink yet--not such a big deal when I'm making sencha, but with the yancha I'm drinking now (Da Hong Pao from Norbu), brewed at 205 degrees, I'm learning to skip the sip if it feels too hot. I have a very thickwalled and thick glazed cup that has been my main go-to cup at home which is so heavy that I don't get that warning. So.....another 'personality' difference.

Ummm....cancel that crackles comment. I was looking at the top quarter inch above the tea and it wasn't very obvious, but a sip or three later, and a sudden change in the light coming through the window (sun behind a cloud, less glare), and crackles are staining all over the inside of the cup.